Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
by Liz B. N
Summary: In Remnant Grimm were there only monsters that humans and Faunus had to worry about. That is, until a certain ghoul arrives, causing a massive stir in Vale. Armed with limited knowledge of his own past and abilities foreign to Remnant,, Kaneki seeks answers... but how far will he go?
1. Ghoul Among Huntsmen

**Welcome to my first Fanfiction! I thought I'd try to write one since I enjoy reading them so much, and figured that if I can write something somebody else can enjoy, it'd be worth it. Let me know what you all think in a review, and what I can improve on and all that stuff. I have a pretty good idea of how this story is going to go, I just hope that it isn't painfully amateurish that I lose you before we get there. I hope you all like it, so enjoy!**

 **Love, Liz.**

* * *

Several police vehicles crowded the normally sleepy area of Vale. Several officers were putting up police tape, the flashing lights of their police cruisers illuminating the dark night. A few passersby huddled around, wondering what had happened. A single woman, a ram Faunus with curved horns, was crying hysterically as she struggled to recount what she found. A detective patiently jotted down the details, his face grim.

"Ma'am, please calm down. I know it's hard, but just try to start from the beginning, alright?" The officer's voice was tired, but he was concerned.

"I-it was horrible…" she sobbed. She allowed herself a minute to compose herself as much as she could, then continued. "I was on my way to the grocery store, and I noticed that the windows were blacked out. Normally Tukson wouldn't close his shop until eight in the evening, so I thought it was odd. At first I thought he had gone out to lunch… so I decided I'd stop by after… You see, he often offers to help me with my groceries."

"Right, and about what time was this?"

"The first time I passed by it was a little past noon… and the second time it was about two? Maybe two-thirty. I'm not sure, my hands were full, and so I couldn't check my scroll." The woman hugged herself in an attempt to stop shaking.

"Of course. So when you were returning from the market, what happened?"

"Like I said, I was going to stop by to check on Tukson. He is —er, was a kind soul… When I came by the second time, the lights were still out, so I tried the door to see if it was open…"

"And it was. What did you see when you stepped inside?"

"I saw blood all over the bookshelves… and I almost let out a scream, but I felt so scared I couldn't. I wanted to leave immediately, but I heard strange noises coming from behind the counter… it was just wishful thinking at that point..." her voice cracked as she recalled.

"This is when you saw _it_?" The detective had lowered his notepad and looked into the woman's eyes. She was clearly still shaken, but she nodded. "What did it look like?"

"It must have been a Grimm… but I never heard of any like that before. It was almost human shaped, but it was crouched over Tukson's body… Strange tentacles were sticking out from behind his back, and that face… Oh gods!" she cried, burying her face into her hands.

"You mentioned before that it had only one eye?" he asked after a short pause. The woman composed herself once more.

"Yes detective… but it had _human_ teeth! It looked like some sort of corpse possessed by a Grimm. I was so scared I dropped my groceries, and its head snapped towards me! I thought I was as good as dead…"

"What happened after that?"

"We just stared at each other for what felt like hours. Its eye… it was hideous! It was almost all black, but the center was red. I couldn't move… and it slowly began to get up…"

"Did it hurt you?"

"No… it just… left. Once I thought I was safe, I ran outside and called the police…"

"Is there anything else that you remember?"

"The Grimm… it looked human," she repeated. From the look in her eyes, she could never forget its features.

"You said the lights were out, are you sure?" he asked with a tinge of doubt. Hesitantly, he made a note in his report.

"YES! It had white hair, and it didn't have any claws, it had fingers covered in blood. It looked like it was wearing some sort leather clothes or something, but it wasn't fur or scales... well, aside from it's strange appendages."

"Right… I'll make a note of it, but this is unheard of ma'am, I'm afraid that I'll have to consult one of the professors at Beacon to confirm this." The detective sighed as he put his notepad away and rubbed his eyes. "Listen ma'am, if you remember anything else, don't hesitate to call, alright? We're going to get to the bottom of this."

"Th-thank you." The Faunus woman ran off to a human man standing behind the red police tape. The two embraced, and he tried to comfort her. The detective turned to the bookstore, mentally preparing himself. Hesitantly, he walked in. He was careful not to step on any blood, but it was spattered everywhere. Eventually, he arrived to the victim, who was covered by a white sheet. He tried not to focus on the large blots of red bleeding through, and talked to his partner.

"So… we have a cause of death yet? "

"It's actually kind of surprising," said a young woman. She was crouched over the body. "The M.E. said if it _was_ really a Grimm that did this, then the decapitation or disembowelment would have been the obvious cause, but despite the blood everywhere, the victim was already dead when whatever it was began feeding on his body. The blood doesn't show like it was flowing or pumping from the body..."

"So this was a murder?" he asked confused. It didn't sit right to him.

"If the gun shot to his head is any indication, then yes. The thing that began eating him was just an unfortunate circumstance after the fact."

"This night just keeps getting better and better…"

"Let's just be grateful that she didn't get killed. Say what she will about this Tukson guy, we found some evidence that he was involved with the White Fang. After a little digging, it looked like he was about to flee the kingdom."

"So this was a hit by the White Fang? Geez, nothing can ever be simple around here, can it? First those damn robberies at all the Dust shops a few months ago, which stopped as suddenly as they started, and now this? Some poor bastard gets killed and now there's a Grimm loose in the city? What good are those damn Huntsmen if they can't keep these monsters outside the walls?"

"Either way, we have to ask Professor Ozpin about this. Grimm tracking is way out of our jurisdiction."

"Right, you want to come with?"

"Nah, my girl gets embarrassed when I go to visit her. If you do see her, tell her I said to stay out of trouble, and to leave that poor girl on her team alone."

"If Coco doesn't listen to you, I doubt she'd listen to me," he chuckled humorlessly.

"Yea, well, you can't fault a mom for trying."

* * *

The following morning at Beacon, Ozpin was attempting to convince Glynda to be more lenient with the first-years. The food fight had indeed caused a ton of damage, but she was easily able to fix it.

"They're supposed to be protectors of the world, not children."

"I know, but they don't need to grow up so fast. Child soldiers are the first to die in war, and they won't be able to enjoy these days for long. Once classes start, feel free to be as strict as you like, but as of now, it's still technically their break."

Glynda wanted to argue, but decided against it. She took out her scroll to see she had a message.

"It seems that the Vale Police Department is requesting an audience with you."

"Did they mention what this is about?" he asked, taking a sip from his mug.

"No, just that it's urgent."

"Right, well, no sense in keeping them waiting."

* * *

On the streets of Vale, a lone figure walked aimlessly. He wore a mismatch ensemble of clothes he had swiped from a local laundromat, and a white medical eye patch over his left eye. While he didn't have any destination in mind, a pleasant smell caught his attention, and he began to follow it.

"Coffee…" he whispered to himself. He found himself in front of a small café. Despite his better judgement, he enters, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.

"Welcome!" greeted a young woman behind the counter. "Take a seat anywhere, I'll be right with you."

The young man didn't budge, as he simply stared at the woman. Or more notably, her large rabbit ears on her head. Was this some sort of maid café deal with a furry theme? It didn't make sense given that she was dressed in casual clothes and an apron.

"Is something wrong?" the Faunus woman asked. She took a better look at his attire. "Are you not from around here? Are you lost?"

"Something like that," he replied, snapping out of his stupor. When she questioned him, her ears moved, as if expressing confusion. He walked over to a corner table and took a seat.

"Well, hello, I'm Marble. Can I get you something to drink?"

"C-coffee."

"Cream and sugar?"

"No, black is fine."

"Great, can I offer you anything else? We are pretty well-known for our cakes."

"Uh, no, I'm not very hungry…"

Marble nodded, and went back to the counter where she poured his coffee. The overall atmosphere had begun to calm his nerves, and when he got his coffee, he felt peaceful. He took a sip and relished in the flavor. His hands held the cup gently as he began to organize his thoughts together. Last night was too close a call. Finding a body was a blessing, but he was so distracted by this that he didn't notice that woman walk in on him. Thankfully he had enough foresight to wear his mask, but how much had she seen? He frowned, knowing that it didn't matter. He was a ghoul, and she would report it as such.

"How's the coffee?" Marble asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, it's wonderful," he smiled politely. He reached into his pocket to take out some money and placed it on the table. "Is this enough?"

"Excuse me?" she asked curiously. She picked up the coins and bill and examined it. "What is this?"

"Oh…" he began to inspect the clothes he borrowed, and found them mostly empty. What he did find was a few cards that resembled credit cards. He took them out and extended them out to her, questioningly. "Uh, is this enough?"

"You really aren't from around here," she said mostly to herself. "Is this all you have?"

"Do I need more?"

"Is this all your money?" she asked again, almost motherly.

"Uh, yea, I guess…" he pocketed his useless currency, and sighed.

"Well, look… I don't want to leave you without any lien…" She looked around the empty café and sighed. "You seem like a nice young man, and since my daughter is going off to Beacon tomorrow, I'll be pretty short-staffed around here… would you be able to fill in for her? I mean, if you don't mind working for a Faunus ran business."

 _It's like Anteiku all over again._

As he had that thought, he felt a headache forming. What was Anteiku? Blurry images of a café entered his mind, but nothing else. He tried to focus on the scene, but Marble's voice brought him back to reality.

"It might actually help business if we had a human in front taking orders…"

"I'd love to work here," he finally managed to get out. Marble smiled gently, and realized something.

"Oh, how rude of me, I never got your name."

"Uh, Kaneki…" he replied hesitantly, as if testing how the name felt on his tongue. He thought a little harder. "Ken Kaneki."

"Nice to meet you, Kaneki."

* * *

"Professor?" Glynda asked grimly. "What do you take of this?"

"This is very concerning…" he admitted. His mouth was a line, as he looked over the notes he had received from the detective. "If this is indeed a Grimm, then She must be working on infusing more intelligence… However, if this report is accurate, I'm not sure if it truly is a Grimm."

"What are you saying? Everything is pointing to it being a Grimm."

"At first glance, yes, but there several key things that throw that theory out the window. Firstly, the witness that saw it feeding was a civilian, and in her statement she clearly expressed her fear of it, yet the creature didn't sense her. Grimm are universally attracted to negative emotion, and fear for one's life is as negative as it gets. Secondly, it is never mentioned to have any sort of bone plates on it. Even the weakest Grimm have a mask-like structure, yet this one didn't."

"So this… _thing_ is—"

"Nothing we've seen before. The biggest thing that concerns me is the fact that it reportedly had white hair and a red pupil surrounded by black sclera…"

Glynda's eyes widened in realization.

"This creature might share some sort or relation to _her._ If that's the case… we might be entering a new era of war." Ozpin sighed after a short pause. "However, if we are lucky, this may be something else entirely. Regardless of how we look at this, this is bad, but perhaps not as bad as we may think."

"With all due respect, what are the chances of that?"

"Slim," he admitted. "I need to discuss this with Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck."

* * *

That night, Kaneki arrived at the Café a few minutes before the agreed time Marble had requested him. The bell rang as he entered the café.

"Oh, welcome!" A young woman who looked almost exactly like Marble greeted him. She wore the same apron, although she was clearly much younger. "Are you the new hire? My mum told me about you."

"Uh, yea, I'm Ken Kaneki," he replied. "You must be Velvet?"

"That's right. I'm supposed to show you around a little since my classes are starting up again tomorrow." She smiled warmly at him, as she approached him with a second apron. "I'm glad that you're going to be picking up the slack around here, my mum doesn't know when to give herself a break."

"Oh," he replied, unsure how to respond to that.

"If you come over this side I can show you the different things we serve. The coffee grounds are in that cabinet and all the refrigerated things are in the cooler in the kitchen. There's milk and all sorts of juices."

"Right," he nodded. Velvet glanced up at the clock. "Well, we're usually busiest in the morning and at night, but since everybody is on break, tonight should be pretty quiet. Are you hungry?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine," he replied quickly. "I don't have any money to pay for anything anyway."

"That's no big deal," Velvet grinned. "Mum let's all the employees eat during their shift."

"Really, I'm fine."

"Alright, if you insist." Velvet continued to show him around the café, making idle chitchat. Kaneki, for the most part, was relieved with this temporary situation, but he knew that he shouldn't get too comfortable; he needed to find a steady source of food before he began feeling the damned hungry pains. He blanked out for a second, when Velvet began to wave her hand in front of his face. "Are you alright?"

"Yea, I'm sorry," he replied sheepishly. "Just a lot on my mind."

"Where are you from?" she asked suddenly. Kaneki looked at her with wide eyes. "Oh, I didn't mean to pry, it's just mum told me you seemed lost when you arrived."

"I… don't know," he replied evasively. The truth was that he didn't remember. He only had vague memories of his past. Before he entered the café, he didn't remember Anteiku, but drinking some coffee had triggered something for him to remember. He then remembered something that Marble had said to him when she offered him the job. "Say, um, Velvet?"

"Yea?" She seemed a bit concerned with his apparent amnesia.

"You're mother said it would be helpful if a human was taking orders…" he began slowly. He wasn't sure how to ask if she and her mother were ghouls without giving himself away. "What did she mean by that?"

"Are you serious?" asked Velvet. She didn't' seem offended, but rather curious. "Wait, are you a Faunus with a hidden trait?"

"A what?"

Now Velvet looked even more confused.

"Kaneki… do you know what a Faunus is?" she asked carefully. To her shock, Kaneki shook his head. "Well… I'm one," she offered, as her ears wiggled a little.

"What's the difference between a Faunus and a human?" he asked. Velvet touched her chin as she began to think.

"Well, the simplest way of putting it is that Faunus have traits that resemble animals," she explained. "My mum and I have these ears. There are a few other differences, but that's the most visible ones. A lot of Faunus can't really hide them, so we stick out in a crowd."

"Why would you want to hide them?"

"You _really_ aren't from around here…" she said to herself.

"Your mother said the same thing," Kaneki sighed. He really needed to work on blending in.

"It's kind of a touchy subject with most of us, but it really just boils down to discrimination. A lot of humans don't like us, and will go out of their way to torment us. It ranges from a lot of things… like getting bullied, not wanting to work with us or even trying to sabotage Faunus' businesses, not to mention the racist remarks we hear everyday."

Kaneki remained silent, although he sympathized with the girl. Velvet and her mother seemed to be very kind people and they were likely taken advantage of.

"Anyway, let's get back to business…" Velvet turned and began to walk into the kitchen area.

* * *

"Ugh, I don't want to go to class," Yang grumbled as she covered her head with her pillow. "Can't we have another week off?"

"Don't be preposterous," Weiss said to her. "Our break was long enough."

"Are you saying you look forward to sitting in Port's class?" asked Yang.

"Whether I look forward to it or not is irrelevant. We need to learn to become better Huntresses."

"I don't think we'll learn much from listening to stories of his youth," mused Blake.

"Guys, I think we should get back to this conversation later," Ruby announced. "We're going to be late again!"

"Didn't you set the alarm?!" Weiss asked looking at her scroll.

"Talk about déjà vu," Yang groaned as she sprung out of bed already dressed "Let's go!"

The four girls bolted down the hallways leaving a trail of dust as they did. Luckily, they already knew where their first class was and made it with about a minute to spare. They took their usual seats, and began to catch their breath.

"Woke up late again?"

"Yea, I didn't set the alarm," Ruby admitted. She turned to Velvet, who was looking at pictures on her scroll. "How was your break?"

"Oh it was fine," she replied. "I got to work on my photography, want to see?"

"Sure!" Ruby chirped. She scooted closer to the upperclassman and stared at her scroll. Ruby didn't seem to get Velvet's vision, and just laughed awkwardly. "Those are, uh, nice."

"Thanks!" Velvet replied, not hearing the uncertainty in her voice. As she scrolled, there was a clear picture of a bookstore that was surrounded by red tape.

"Whoa, what happened there?" asked Ruby. "Did somebody break in?"

"Oh, no," Velvet shook her head. "It's actually really sad. This was a bookshop I used to go to when I was little, and Coco's mom is working on an investigation on it."

"Which bookstore?" asked Blake, her ears perking underneath her bow.

"Tukson's Book Trade," Velvet sighed wistfully. "I only found out this morning, but Coco sent me the pictures. I didn't want to believe her when she told me what happened."

"What happened?" asked Ruby.

"Tukson was, er, killed," Velvet replied uneasily. Ruby felt a chill go up her spine.

"What, why?!" she asked.

"I don't know the details," admitted Velvet, "This all happened yesterday. The Faunus community is up in arms about it. They demand that whoever did this is brought to justice, but a lot of us already know that it's not going to matter."

"What do you mean?" asked Yang.

"When this sort of thing happens, the first few days there is an uproar, but the police rarely get to the bottom of it. Coco's mom has tried to get cases reopened when new evidence comes up, but most of the time the department doesn't want to spend the resources for it."

"That sounds terrible," Ruby whispered.

"Good morning class!" boomed Professor Port. The five girls scooted back to their spots as the lecture began, although now they only thought of the incident in Vale.

* * *

"Will that be all for you sir?" ask Kaneki with a polite smile.

"Yeah, I think so," said an older gentleman. He was reading a newspaper and furrowed his brow at the contents.

"Great, I'll go get that started for you." He walked over to the counter and wasted no time in getting the drink ready. Marble looked on from the kitchen window with a small smile. No more than two minutes passed and Kaneki served the hot coffee to the customer. "Enjoy your coffee, and let me know if we can interest you in any of our famous deserts. Our special for today is tiramisu, but we have others available."

"I'll consider it, young man," the man with a small smile. "I don't think I've seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"Yes sir," Kaneki replied with a bow. "Today is my first day."

"Well you're doing an excellent job. Normally it's Marble or her daughter that take orders, but you're every bit as hospitable."

"I'm glad you think so sir." With the conversation done, Kaneki walked over to other tables and began to clean them. He listened to the news playing on the screen behind the counter.

"VPD have yet to release an official statement of the incident last night, but neighbors are already up in arms about it. Tukson, owner of Tukson's Book Trade, was found dead in his shop in the early afternoon Sunday. Some are claiming that it was race related, while others have spread rumors that Tukson was involved with the White Fang. If you have any information, please, contact the Vale Police Department."

"Gee, that sounds pretty bad," sighed the older man. "Poor ol' Tukson. He was a nice young man..."

"You knew him?" asked Kaneki before he could stop himself. The older man nodded solemnly.

"Yea, he was a book-loving man, but I guess he might have gotten involved with the wrong folks... Wonder what's going to happen to his bookstore..."

Kaneki nodded, feeling a tinge of guilt, before he tried to rationalize the situation. It was true he found a body in the bookstore that he began to eat, but he was already dead. It's not like he killed him. He shook the thoughts from his mind. He made his way back behind the counter to wipe it down.

* * *

Team RWBY sat quietly in the cafeteria. Ruby was shook from hearing there was a murderer on the loose. She had long ago accepted that there were monsters that were out to end humanity, but for a person to go out of their way to kill another seemed wrong. Humans and Faunus were all on the same side, why would there being inner fighting?

Blake seemed visibly upset from the news Velvet shared, but knew she couldn't do anything. She hadn't known Tukson personally, but she knew that there were a few Faunus that had tried to leave the White Fang long before she did. To know the fate of the deserters made an angry knot form in her stomach.

Weiss felt guilty. Not too long ago she knew that if she heard the same news, she would be indifferent at best. At worse, she'd think "good riddance". Her team, mostly Blake, had opened her eyes and it made her sick. She stole a glance towards Blake, wondering how she was taking it.

Yang poked at her food, not having an appetite. She was well aware of bad people (her mother being exhibit A), and while it didn't sadden her as it once did, it definitely bummed her out. Seeing Cardin pick on Velvet the semester before, and seeing how Blake hide her heritage made her realize how much she has taken being human for granted.

"Guys?" began Ruby. "What do you think?"

"It sucks," replied Yang, knowing exactly what she was referring to.

"Do you think the White Fang are really behind this?" asked Weiss. "I mean it's what I've heard on the news."

"The news is full of bias idea," Blake sighed, "but that doesn't mean it might not be true. The only way to know for sure is to investigate this ourselves. If the White Fang _did_ do it, then Tukson was trying to find an out... and if they aren't... somebody must be hunting down members, not caring if they're active or not."

"How can we be sure that this wasn't a one time thing?" asked Yang. "I mean, sure a lot of what you guys are saying is true, but it could have been a robbery gone wrong, right?"

"That's true," nodded Ruby, "but I think we should still look into this."

"Agreed," Blake nodded.

"I'm not going to let you do this without me," Weiss added. Blake gave her a meaningful look.

"Then count me in too," said Yang.

"Alright, first thing after classes, we'll head out to Vale.

* * *

 **I wasn't sure if I should have kept going or not, but I decided I should wait before I introduce anymore characters (even if they are canon) to the plot. I hope you enjoyed it, and let me know hat you think of it!**

 **Also Thank you FineChyna for helping me with this project. I hope you see this!**

 **Love, Liz**


	2. Strawberry Shortcake

Wow, words cannot describe how great it was to see all of you guys give your thoughts about my first story. I didn't think I would attract this much attention (To be honest, I didn't expect any lol) but I want to thank you all. 

First, Guest, I don't know exactly how powerful I want Kaneki to be, so I can't answer this just yet.  
Noble (Guest) Thank you so much for the kind words. Velvet has always been one of my favorite characters because of how much I identify with her, so she will be playing more of a role later too.  
Pokemonrot377, thank you.  
Guest I appreciate your words, and I'm glad to see that my first fiction is being taken so well.  
DIO Over Heaven, thank you, and I will!  
Senpen Banka: Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this update!  
Ultron Emperor: Thank you so much! It still boggles my mind to see that people like it this much.  
Guest: I'm glad I caught your attention, and I hope I keep it.  
Harlequin-ThePsychopathicHero: I do hope that when the time comes, you'll enjoy all the bloody fun, and thank you for the kind words.  
thereaper1331: I had hoped to get this out sooner, but thank you and here's another update!  
Guest: I'm ecstatic to see that you enjoyed my first story so much, and I hadn't seen anybody do anything with the eyes, so I tried to be a bit different. I'm glad that you caught this and hope that I do it justice in the future.  
LegionsLegend: Thank you!  
Junior VB: He does!  
: Thank you so much, I hope I won't let you down. Also, I love your name.  
Lolilord: Thank you, and I can't wait either.  
Guest: thank you so much, and I hope this update is good for you.  
The Big Pickle: I don't know about that, but maybe.  
DIO Over Heaven: I am!  
Guest: I am!  
Blankdad: Thank you!  
IlluminatiAnimeLover789: She is~! FineChyna has been helping me be not awful at writing and helping catch a lot of the typos and whatnot that I overlook. She's great, and I hope to be part of her crowd someday (Her and With Death Comes More Death, who I hope will see this story someday as well.)  
Kragh50: thank you, and well, this story takes place in the RWBY timeline, not Tokyo Ghoul, but in terms of when Kaneki was taken from his world, well, that's something that he's trying to find out too.  
Sturdivant: Thank you, I hope you enjoy the future chapters as well.  
Spiderwl: Thank you, and here it is!  
Itharax: I'm happy to hear that, and here's another chapter!  
Phoniex45: thank you, and I will, I promise!  
Anon: thank you!  
Ari: I didn't really think of that, but who knows, maybe in the future.

Now, for the chapter to start!

* * *

Chapter Two: Strawberry Shortcake

* * *

"Absolutely not!"

An orange haired man paced back and forth and he shouted into his scroll. This man was the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick. The normally suave and collected man was visibly irritated as he walked around the warehouse. "My employer is having her mutts move all of the Dust to another location, and I have to oversee it. If she gets wind of me having another hench—err , _assistant_ who's been helping this last week, well, then you'll be getting much more involved than we agreed. You aren't to come within five—no, TEN miles of the warehouse until tomorrow, do I make myself clear?"

"You're kicking me out?" asked a young man on the other line. His tone lacked emotions for the most part, but he seemed a bit disappointed.

"No, no, this is temporary," assured Torchwick. He sighed tiredly, taking a breath to calm himself down. "After tonight, the place is all yours. I doubt we'll need it again, but on the off chance that we do, well, then things go back to how they've been these last few weeks."

"It almost sounds like you care about me," the voice on the other end mused. Torchwick groaned in annoyance. "You got it, Jack."

"Don't even think that this is me cashing in the favor you owe me, punk. This situation is in both our best interests." Torchwick shut his scroll, ending the call, and turned back to the warehouse. For a moment, he allowed himself to revel in the sheer quantity of the stolen Dust. Torchwick was well aware that he was one of the best in the business, but the mounds of crates and shipping containers plastered with the iconic Schnee Dust Company snowflake was beyond his wildest imaginings. He took a cigar from his coat pocket and lit it. "Aside from taking orders from that she-devil, these results almost make dealing with her and her runts worth it." He inhaled deeply, and slowly blow the smoke out.

* * *

- _Earlier that day_ -

* * *

Team RWBY sat in their dorm, an air of defeat lingering around them. Ruby was hanging halfway off her bed, her view of the room upside down, as she sighed for the umpteenth time.

"I really thought we'd find _something_ by now," Yang lamented from her bed, where she was lying on her back. She was throwing mock punches at the ceiling to pass the time, but there was an obvious lack of enthusiasm. "It's like whoever did it came out of nowhere and disappeared."

"Or the police are hiding something," Blake muttered under her breath bitterly, tossing aside a folder and opening a new one. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Why would they have any incentive to do that, though?" asked Weiss. She was sat at the desk, looking over the team's notes. "I know the police aren't always the most reliable, but it doesn't explain why they'd actively try to keep everything under wraps. We've been at this for over two weeks now."

Yang sat up and shrugged. "Unless somebody high up there told them to. I mean, Huntsmen and Huntress aren't the only ones who have a chain of command, right?"

"That would only cause more questions," sighed Weiss, rubbing her forehead. "I mean, even our notes aren't exactly lined up. The people I talked to claimed to never have spoken to Tukson, while Ruby found more than a few acquaintances. I swear I had asked some of those same people, too."

"It's probably because of your last name," Blake replied bluntly, closing her own notes. "I can vouch for you now, but on the first day we met, I wanted nothing to do with you, much less befriend you." Weiss turned to argue, but Blake pressed on. "Most of those reasons had less to do with you and more to do with your family. Although it _was_ pretty pretentious of you to have your butlers carting around all your Dust."

"Still…" Weiss mumbled, looking a bit ashamed. "I'm not my father."

"Of course you're not," Ruby offered gently, finally including herself in the conversation. She rolled over, and looked at her team.

"Did you find anything else weird?" asked Yang, sitting up.

Weiss turned for a moment, and ruffled through a few pages. "Not really…"

"How do you think Velvet is holding up?" asked Ruby. "I haven't really seen her in class these last few days."

"I heard from Coco that she's been spending the last two weekends in Vale to be closer to her mom," informed Yang. "Oh, did you guys know that Coco's mom works for the VPD? Apparently, she was one of the first detectives on the scene."

"You think she knows why the VPD are being so secretive about this?" asked Blake, her bow shifting a little. "It's a long shot, but maybe she let something slip to Coco."

Yang shook her head. "I asked her already, but all she said was that it _'was out of their jurisdiction'_ , or something." Weiss and Blake palmed their face in unison. "What?"

"Do you know what that means?" asked Weiss, struggling not to raise her voice.

"Yeah, it means that they aren't equipped to handle the investigation, or that a different department is taking care of it," answered Yang readily.

"Vale Police Department has jurisdiction _everywhere_ within the city of Vale," Weiss said exageratedly.

"Yeah, and?" asked Ruby, not following along. Yang, however, had a moment of realization.

"There are only a few things that are out of their jurisdiction," Blake sighed tiredly, "and anything that's too big for them, is taken care of by Huntsmen. That list of things can range from terrorism, Grimm attacks, and declarations of war from another nation."

"And we're still in training," Yang groaned defeatedly. "Meaning that we can't investigate this anymore until we graduate… unless we're magically given permission from Ozpin."

Weiss rolled her eyes at Yang's sarcasm. "Like that would happen."

"Even if we can't investigate this, we should at least check up on Velvet," Ruby decided. "She's our friend, and she probably needs us now."

* * *

Glynda watched in mild concern as the Headmaster Ozpin rubbed his temples for the millionth time. She'd personally gone over all the notes the VPD had given them, but Ozpin bordered on obsession as he threw himself over his notes.

"Professor… you should get some rest," Glynda repeated tiredly.

"I'm aware of that," Ozpin replied evenly, though it was evident he wasn't paying her advice any mind. He stood over the desk, reminiscent of a war strategist looking over a map, contemplating his next move. "This… this just doesn't add up."

"We're likely missing something, then. The VPD does its work well, but this isn't something they were trained for. If anything, we should have a Huntsman or two shadow them just in case this gets worse."

"That's what's worrying me, Glynda." Ozpin looked up, his eyes slightly bloodshot, but his demeanor as calm as ever. "The crime scene, the witness statement, _and_ the cameras that managed to catch a blur of the thing that did this, all point to Grimm in nature… In fact, a young Grimm, given by how savagely the body was torn apart."

"Perhaps it was making a statement," Glynda offered. "If we go with the theory that this creature could be more like Salem than say, a Beowolf, maybe the excessive gore was to get our attention?"

"My thoughts exactly," he agreed, his shoulders sagging down with exhaustion. "Salem would never make a move this bold… much less this far into a main kingdom. Yet, this _thing_ has not just allowed it presence to be known, but it nearly shouted its existence to the world. This brings us with two possibilities."

"Which are what, sir?"

"It is a completely rogue Grimm that has no understanding of how resilient and resourceful mankind can be, nor the danger that they pose when united together..." he answered, trailing off. He finally gave in and sat into his chair, running his hand through his hair. "Or it understands all of this, and simply doesn't care."

"This is beyond alarming…" Glynda muttered, touching her chin in thought.

"If it's the latter, chances are that we'll need to form a team of Huntsmen to take care of it. Once it's found, of course." Ozpin leaned forward to look at the blurry image of the creature running down the streets of Vale. "What are you plotting…?"

* * *

"You've got to calm down, Velvet. When's the last time you've gotten any rest?" asked Kaneki, as he nearly forced the rabbit Faunus to take a seat. If the girl tried to resist, it went unnoticed, as the girl could barely keep her eyes open.

"I-I know," she conceded. "I'm sorry Ken, it's just that I'm worried about my mum, you know? Tukson's shop is only a few blocks away, so what if whatever killed him is still out there?"

"The police said he had connections to the White Fang, and that's why he was assassinated… You and your mother are safe, this café is an honest bus—Velvet!" Kaneki had barely reacted in time to catch the sleeping girl from falling off her stool. Sighing, he put her arm around his shoulders and led her to the couch in the quiet corner of the café. He unhooked her camera as well as the strange box she carried around and set it on the coffee table next to her. He thought about the girl's last statement, but decided to ask about it later. "Please… just get some rest."

 _Ring_

Kaneki turned to the front door, and in a brisk walk, covered the entirety of the café. He smiled at the party of four, and raised a single finger to his lips, causing the rowdy girls to quiet down.

* * *

"Welcome to Scarlatina Café," greeted a waiter with an eyepatch barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry to ask, but could you all keep your voices down? My co-worker is taking a short rest. She's been up… a while. If you'd like to take a seat, I'll take your order in just a moment."

Confused, team RWBY nodded and walked to a table by the front window. The café was still, the only sounds being the low humming of the refrigerator and a flickering light near the back.

"What do you think that was about?" whispered Weiss. "Is this café an inn too? You hardly see those around in the main city."

"Oh, who knows. Hey Rubes, they have strawberry shortcake, you want to split one?" Yang asked, ignoring Weiss' indignant look. She pointed to a picture on the menu of said shortcake.

"Pshht, you'll hog all the strawberries," Ruby scoffed. "I want my own."

"Are you two seriously going to eat right now?" asked Weiss, folding her arms.

"Why not?" the two sisters asked in unison.

"It hardly seems appropriate," she added, although she could see Blake looking through the menu now.

"Come on, Ice Queen, loosen up a bit. I know the investigation was a bust, but it's not like we screwed up or anything. It's above our abilities."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that," Blake chuckled to herself. She saw Yang's betrayed expression from the corner of her eye as she scanned the menu.

"I meant rank," Yang corrected in a huff. "If we didn't have that holding us back, we'd totally be able to find out who killed Tukson."

"Tukson?" the waiter asked politely, as he took out his pen and pad. His sudden appearance nearly made the girls jump out of their skin. He was eerily quiet. "His death seems to be the only thing people talk about these days… I'm sorry for shushing you all earlier. Can I get anything started for you girls?"

"I'll have a hot coco," Yang said recovering from the shock first. "And a strawberry shortcake. You want anything Rubes?"

"Great choice," he approved. He turned to Ruby.

"I want a cake too, but with milk," Ruby added, narrowing her eyes at Yang. "And make sure mine has more strawberries than hers."

Yang visibly grinned, but said nothing. The young man continued looking around the table.

"I'll see what I can do," he chuckled politely.

"I'll have green tea," Blake ordered, placing the menu back.

"Coffee," Weiss added, finally succumbing to the aroma. After the waiter repeated the order to ensure accuracy, he was off. "Hey, he said that everybody's been talking about Tukson, you think he's heard anything we can use?"

"He's a waiter, not a detective," Yang shrugged. "If he has, there's no telling if it's from a reliable source or not. A lot of people talk just to talk."

"Well, it couldn't hurt to ask," Blake added, nodding to Weiss. "It's not like we're going to interrogate him."

The four girls turned their heads to the one-eyed white haired waiter, who had made a detour to the corner of the café. There, they all saw Velvet soundly asleep. The young man adjusted her pillow, and left a thin slice of cake next to her camera. From there, he went straight to the counter and began to get their orders ready.

"Well, I'll be right back," Yang said suddenly, as she got up.

"What are you doing? She's asleep Yang!" Ruby whispered harshly. "The least we can do is wait until she wakes up!"

"I need to pee!" Yang whispered back, shaking her head, adding a sarcastic, " _Sorry_!"

"At least Velvet has a co-worker who cares about her," Weiss noted, looking over to the exhausted girl. Even from the distance she was, Weiss clearly saw dark bags around Velvet's eyes. "I didn't realize how much this must have been affecting her."

"Isn't Tukson's only a few blocks from here?" asked Ruby, recognizing the building across the street. She had passed it several times after class during her info-gathering.

"Yeah. Velvet shouldn't feel the need to be scared, but with how the Fang has been acting lately, I would be too. Even if they won't be targeted by the Fang themselves, Humans have been notorious for blurring the line between White Fang member and just a normal Faunus. Velvet probably knows that too…"

"I hate this…" Ruby mumbled dejectedly.

Yang exited the bathroom a few minutes later, when she heard a scroll go off. She reached for hers, but it hadn't rang. Looking around, she turned to see the waiter answer his. Normally she would have just gone on her way, but the young man had a mysterious aura around him that she wouldn't mind figuring out. Pressing herself flat against the wall, she began to listen as he answered.

"I don't need you calling me, I'm coming straight back after work. I don't get off for another few hours anyway," he replied tiredly. Yang couldn't make out the other side of the conversation, but it was clearly an angry man. "You're kicking me out?"

Yang's eyes widened slightly at that. The young waiter was in danger of living on the streets, yet he didn't raise his voice at all. She leaned a bit over to see his face. The eye-patch wearing waiter seemed focused on pouring this, and stirring that, but his expression was, all things considered, rather mild. She was sure of what she heard, yet he seemed to be minorly inconvenienced if anything. To her surprise, his disappointment shifted into a wry smile that didn't suit his face. He shook a canister and began to dispense whip cream as he spoke.

"It almost sounds like you care about me," he replied, almost teasingly. His slight grin turned into a humorless smile. "You got it, Jack."

 _Jack_? Yang thought to herself. She began to replay his conversation in her head, then made and 'oh' sound.

"Can I help you?" asked the waiter, as he noticed Yang's blonde hair sticking from behind the wall. "I'm the only one working tonight, so I apologize if I'm a bit slow to get everything out."

"Oh, no, I'm fine," Yang laughed nervously. He looked her with a raised eyebrow. "Actually, I came over here to ask if you can swap my sister's cake and mine."

"Sister?" he asked. He looked pensive for a moment, then remembered the other girl who ordered the shortcake. "Oh, you and Rubes are sisters?"

"Ruby," Yang corrected, placing her arms on her hips. She put on a stern expression, looking at him in what could only be seen as a warning. "Only I can call her Rubes."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—" he began, but stopped when he noticed the grin on Yang's face.

"You're too easy to mess with," Yang grinned, cupping his cheek affectionately, before walking back over to her team. Yang didn't bother to look back, as she walked back to her team. It was only a few moments after she took her seat that their order had arrived.

"Here you are," he announced. "Green tea for the missus in the bow, Coffee for missus with the tiara; I realize I didn't ask if you wanted cream and sugar, so I brought that on the side. Milk for Ruby, and hot cocoa for your stalker sister. Extra whip cream, just for you."

"Excuse me?" said Yang, her mouth dropping. Blake nearly spat out her tea, while Ruby and Weiss looked at Yang in confusion.

"You were standing where you didn't think I could see you, but I saw you eyeing me as I made your order," he smiled politely. "It's alright, I don't mind the attention."

"Yang! You said you were going to the bathroom!" accused Ruby. Yang began to stammer, unprepared for the sudden rush of attention. Ruby crossed her arms and began to grumbling to herself. "Always embarrassing me... and flirting with guys... and hogging all the strawberries..."

"It's not what it looks like," she began to defend. She looked over the waiter, who, if he wasn't wearing the eye-patch, she could have sworn winked at her.

"I'm just teasing," he admitted having had his fun. He placed down the two shortcakes in between the sisters. "Enjoy your dessert, and drinks." As soon as he was out of earshot, Blake managed to compose herself, and smirked.

"I'll be honest Yang, I always thought you'd be a straightforward kind of girl, not the watching from a distance type. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course."

"It's not like that," she shook her head, "I was listening to his call, and it turns out—"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but that just makes it worse," Weiss added, hiding her small smile behind her mug as she took a sip. "Now you're an eavesdropper too."

Yang opened her mouth to argue, then just shook her head in defeat.

"He just got me back," she laughed to herself.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ruby, already face deep into her strawberry shortcake. The red icing smeared her cheeks and chin.

"First off, gross," Yang laughed, pointing at her mess. "Second of all, I _was_ listening in to his phone call, but when I got caught, I started messing with him, you know, how I normally would. I thought a quiet guy like him would be easy to fluster, but he returned fire immediately."

"Wait, aren't we supposed to ask him stuff about Tukson?" asked Ruby, looking around for something to wipe her face. "Aw, he forgot to bring us napkins…"

"He's already coming back with some," Blake noted, before nudging her partner. "Now's your chance to seal the deal." Yang ignored her partner, and began to think of how to get him back.

* * *

Kaneki looked over to Velvet, who was still soundly asleep as he brought the rest of the girls' order. "I know you both wanted more strawberries than the other," he began, setting down a plate of sliced strawberries along with several napkins, "but Marble cuts the cakes in just the exact way so that they all have the…same…" he trailed off. He looked at Ruby, red icing smeared all over her, and his head began to throb. Nearly dropping to the ground, he barely caught himself on the booth.

 _Hinami…_ he recalled, holding his aching head. The young girl's face covered in blood as he walked in on her feeding. He then remembered where he was, and quickly tried to compose himself.

"What's wrong?" asked the girl in white alarmed.

"N-nothing," he replied, shaking his head. "I just get these bad headaches every now and then. Nothing to be concerned with."

"You almost collapsed from it," the bow wearing girl replied dryly.

"I'll admit, this one was particularly bad, but they go away as fast as they come. I'm sorry, do you girls need anything else?"

"No, that's ok," the first girl replied curtly. "Can you let Velvet know we stopped by?"

"Of course. I don't believe I caught all of your names." Kaneki took out his paper again, to write them down.

"I'm Ruby," said the one covered in icing. "That's Weiss, she's Blake, and my stalker sister Yang."

"Can you not call me that?" Yang asked a bit miffed. "I have a reputation to keep, you know?"

"Sure you do," smirked Blake, taking a sip from her tea.

"You can just tell her team RWBY stopped by," Weiss offered, seeing that the girls were off with their banter. He bowed slightly, and headed back to the counter, where he began to rub his forehead. Try as he might, the quiet of the café made it almost impossible for him to not hear their conversation.

"Why did you decide not to ask him about Tukson?" asked Blake. "It was your idea to begin with."

"I feel it would be more appropriate to ask when he isn't passing out from a migraine," Weiss replied, a hint of sympathy in her voice. "Also… I got the impression he doesn't want to talk about it, judging from what he said."

"Maybe we can ask Velvet?" offered Yang. "On second thought, she likely needs to stop thinking about the incident instead of remembering anything about it. Poor girl must be exhausted."

"Well, if we're done here," began Blake, setting down her empty cup. "I think it's best if we head back to Beacon."

"Yeah… I guess you're right," agreed her partner. As the group of girls made their exit, Kaneki decided that it would be best for him to close up for the night.

* * *

Velvet's eyes slowly opened, feeling both energized and panicked. She sat up, and noticed she was in her mother's café. She slowly began to calm down, when she heard a soft voice nearby.

"You've finally woken up." Kaneki sighed in relief, getting up to check on the girl. He sat across from her, looking at her with concern. "You feeling better?"

"How long have I been here?" she asked, noticing that it was very dark out. She rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes, as she stifled a yawn.

"You arrived around four, and now it's…" he looked at the clock on the wall. "Five forty-five."

"I've been asleep for almost two hours?" asked Velvet, as she sprang to her feet. She was about to rush over to put on her apron, but Kaneki stopped her.

"Uh, actually thirteen," corrected the one-eyed barista. "I closed at a bit early, and it didn't feel right to leave you here alone. You see, your mom didn't work last night. I, uh, realized you were right about her over-working, so I was here all day. If I had known you were coming, I would have told you, but you fell asleep before I could mention it."

"I'm so sorry," Velvet exclaimed embarrassingly.

"No, no, don't worry about it," he brushed off. "Please, sit, you just woke up, I'm sure your hungry."

"But my mum," she began, to which Kaneki waved off. Velvet sat back down, trying to recollect herself.

"She's going to be here in about an hour," he reminded, pointing to the clock. "She called me thirty minutes ago to make sure everything went well last night, so she's fine… but you're not."

"I… I know," she admitted. Much to her embarrassment, her stomach rumbled rather loudly.

"You stay there," Kaneki smiled, "I'll get you some milk to go along with that."

"With what—?" she began before seeing her things neatly placed on the table, next to a covered plate. She took the cover off and saw a slice of confetti cake. She allowed a small smile to form, as she began to realize how much Kaneki was doing for her.

"Your mom baked it yesterday morning, so it should still be alright," he called out. Velvet began to realize how badly she had let this situation affect her, and sighed in defeat. She slowly began to take small bites, as Kaneki returned. "Here you are."

"Thanks Ken," she said with a genuine smile. "I… I don't know what's gotten over me."

"Well, let's talk it out," he offered, taking a seat across from her. "You said something before you fell asleep earlier, but I'm not sure if you were just tired or you found something out that the police haven't released yet."

"Pardon me?" she said confused.

"You said that whatever killed Tukson might still be out there… but the police all say it was a murder, wasn't it? That would imply that they're after a suspect… but you made it sound like something else got him. Hence the _whatever_ instead of _whoever._ "

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ken, you're not supposed to know," Velvet gasped. In truth, she had only found out recently from her own team leader that there was something bigger than the run of the mill murderer on the loose. The details were sparse, but it all pointed to some new sort of Grimm. The one-eyed barista was much more observant than she had initially given him credit for.

"Well, hey, I live around here," he joked, although not to make light of the situation. "I just want to know what I should be out on the look out for, you know? I want to have my best chance at living if there really _is_ something out there…"

"Right…" Velvet conceded. She paused for a long time as she thought about her options. On one hand, telling the general public about these sort of situations was almost universally frowned upon... but on the other, Kaneki has been nothing but good to Velvet and her mother since his arrival. She took another bite of cake, as she thought about it further. "If I tell you, you must promise not to tell anybody else… It would cause panic."

"Of course," agreed Kaneki easily. "I don't have anybody to tell, anyway."

Velvet put her fork down, walked around the coffee table and sat beside Kaneki. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. A moment later, he understood, as she began to speak in a very _very_ low whisper.

"Ken… there might be a Grimm within the city… and judging by how little evidence there is on it at the moment, it may be a new breed, or an unusually smart one…" Kaneki's eye widened, though he was internally relieved. He had read up on Grimm during the last week, and while there were a lot of them out there, he didn't feel they posed much of a threat to him. Granted, he hadn't actually encountered one, but he was confident in his abilities. The fact that he wasn't directly a suspect eased him significantly.

"Oh," he said simply. Velvet must have mistaken his tone for shock, as she then grabbed his hand in reassurance. She made eye contact with him, and smiled gently.

"It's ok," she said softly, but firmly. There was a certain confidence in her voice that normally wasn't there. "This is why I want to be close by, so I can protect my mum, and well, you and everybody else."

"Protect me?" Kaneki asked now thoroughly confused. _I thought you were a student…_ _Not to mention the fact that your mother tells me about those bullies that pick on you…_ he thought to himself. _Wait… Beacon must be some or of training academy._

"I know not everybody is meant to be a fighter," she continued, "and I didn't plan to become one to be honest… but when I found out my Semblance, it didn't really feel right to become anything else. I wanted—no, _needed_ to prove to everybody that Faunus aren't the demonized beings we're portrayed as on the media… and if becoming a Huntress can do that, I didn't really have another choice."

"Velvet…" began Kaneki, leaving a long pause to fill the air. He wanted to tell her that he could defend himself. He wanted to assure her that her mother was in safe hands with him around. He wanted to reveal that he wasn't so helpless. But he couldn't. His Ghoul powers weren't something that she could understand, and after coming to terms with being stranded in world where he was the last of his kind, he knew he couldn't let anybody else know. As kind as Velvet may be, it became clear to Kaneki that she was being trained to kill, which only made her a threat to him. If she found out that he was the one responsible for Tukson's mutilated body, there would be no way he could talk himself out of it.  
 _Oh, I'm a half-Ghoul, which means I have to eat people to survive. But I'm a good person, I swear!_ The argument was laughable at best.

"What is it?" Velvet tilted her head questioningly.

"Your friends, um, team RWBY, stopped by earlier when you were asleep."

"Oh, what did they want?"

"They didn't say, but to be honest, I think they were worried about you," he answered frankly. "This whole Tukson thing… they're looking into it too it seems, and I guess they must have noticed how rough you'd been taking it since they stopped by to check up on you."

"I see…" she replied guiltily. Velvet shifted a bit in her seat, looking away from her co-worker.

"Are you going to stay again this weekend?"

"Yeah… Though I won't next week, since my team is going on a mission outside the kingdom. I don't know how long we'll be gone."

"Well, if it helps any, I'll make sure you mom doesn't overwork herself to death while you're gone."

" _You mean how your mother did?"_ Kaneki froze as he heard the familiar voice behind him.

"That means a lot," Velvet smiled thankfully, giving him a small hug. Kaneki didn't return it, as he saw a shadowy figure slowly come in and out of existence. The vaguely humanoid shape eventually settled into a familiar glasses wearing woman. If it weren't for her prominent Kakugan that marred her face, she would appear almost angelic.

" _Looks like you've gone back to playing human, Kaneki dear,"_ said the ghostly figure of Rize. She began to giggle to herself, the same sadistic laughed that brought phantom pains of being bitten. Slowly, her laugh became maniacal and increased in volume until it nearly deafened Kaneki. Behind Rize, appeared another figure that made Kaneki's blood run cold. A tall man, wearing a suit and a hockey mask holding a pair of bolt cutters.

 _"You know the drill,"_ Yamori cackled, cracking his index finger. _"Start counting."_

"Kaneki?" asked Velvet, pulling away. "Are you OK? Y-you're shaking."

Kaneki's continued to stare at the pair of Ghouls, as his blurry memory slowly began to become clear.

"1000," Kaneki nearly whimpered. "993... 986..."


	3. One More Ghost

**Hey everybody! I'm back with another update, and I know it's been way too long. I was really excited to start writing story, and with all of the positive feedback, I wanted nothing more than to keep going, but life isn't always what we want it to be, and I couldn't get to work on this long enough to make any real progress. Fortunately, here's a new chapter, but first I wanted to thank all of you who reviewed.**

 **DJHaystackk: Thank you for the support!**

 **the lone soul: Here's so more drama.**

 **the-lost-memories6: I tried to update as fast as I could, I'm sorry, but I'm psyched to hear you love the story!**

 **Ka5hima: Thank you, for both the review and the follow!**

 **RandomAccount1331: I hope I did insane Kaneki justice, and I'm happy to see you enjoy the story.**

 **Guest: I never thought of Velvet being the one who says that to Kaneki, and that would be a very uncharacteristically savage moment for her.**

 **Itharax: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the ending!**

 **Kragh50: I'm really happy that this doesn't seem like a first time story, but I can't take all the credit, as FineChyna has helped me with every chapter before I post, and she catches a lot. Sorry for ending the last chapter like that.**

 **IlluminatiAnimeLover789: I'm glad you liked the exposition heavy chapter!**

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 **marouan (Guest): I'm sorry that my updates aren't quick, but I don't really have a time or schedule I can just sit down and write. This is a relatively new hobby for me, and I write when I can.**

 **Guest: Okay!**

 **Terrence Johnny Stanford: Yes sir, he is.**

 **SupremeFever: I'm glad you decided to check it out!**

 **YeTianshi: Thank you, and I wish I could answer your questions, but that would fall into spoiler territory.**

 **Apex (Guest): I hope to hear a full review soon!**

 **Personas: I hope this chapter doesn't fall under the latter part of your review.**

 **nexus4123: Thank you, and I will!**

 **LVR6: It really is! I haven't written before! I'm glad you enjoy it, and yeah, FineChyna is a great author, and super nice when she betas!**

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 **Cross-Z Magma: I'm glad I exceeded your expectations, and yeah, like i explained, the title comes from both the Set It Off song, and the general phrase.**

 **Guest: Okay!**

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 **Okay, so that's everybody who has reviewed for Chapter 2, and I hope to hear from you all again for this chapter! Well, without any further ado, here's Chapter 3!**

* * *

Chapter 3 One More Ghost

* * *

"776…769…" Kaneki muttered. Velvet took a step back, as his voice seemed colder than before. It was a completely different side of him she hadn't seen before. The uncertainty was etched on her face as Kaneki trembled slightly. "762…755…" The initial shock in Kaneki's demeanor morphed into terror, as he winced from phantom pains that made his fingers twitch.

"Ken, please, snap out of it!" she urged. Velvet finally mustered the courage to grab Kaneki's shoulders and shake him. His lone eye widened even further, and he flinched back. He tore Velvet's hand off him and bolted out of the café, knocking over a chair in the process. Velvet rubbed her hand tenderly, as he used a frightening amount of strength. She looked at the door, trying to figure out what had happened, as one minute the two were having a rather pleasant conversation, and suddenly he shut down and began counting down for some reason. What unnerved her most was the manner he'd begun to speak in. His normally cheerfulness was replaced by a cold and unfeeling tone.

The bell to the café rang, and Velvet saw her mother walk in. "Hey Velvet-cake," her mother greeted gently, although there was a bit of concern in her voice. "I think I just saw Mr. Kaneki run down the street on my way here… Did something happen?"

"I don't know… we were just talking and he froze…"

"You didn't try flirting with him, did you?" Marble asked. Velvet blushed furiously, shaking her head. "Well, honey, shy boys like him tend to panic when a girl shows interest in them," Marble continued, taking off her coat.

"No! Of course not, Mom!" Velvet groaned, walking over to the overturned chair. "I get teased enough by Coco, you don't need to do it too!"

"Then what did happen? He was grabbing his face like he was hiding a blush." Velvet tried to ignore her mother's incessant quest to find her a boyfriend and thought back their conversation.

"I think he might have remembered something from his past… and it didn't seem pleasant." Velvet noticed her mother frown slightly as she tied her apron on.

Marble sighed, shaking her head. "I'll talk to him on his next shift… You should be getting back to school. You're not here again because of what happened a few weeks ago, are you?"

"Yes, I am. I can't help it!" Velvet admitted freely. She crossed her arms indignantly, her ears flopping down.

"Baby, our business has been here longer than you've been alive, I've been careful to not make any enemies. Besides, we're in the center of a Faunus community, what are the chances that some loon will ignore everybody and come straight here?"

"Tukson's shop was only a few streets away!" Velvet argued gesturing with her arms.

"He was part of the White Fang," Marble reminded. "Listen honey, I appreciate what you're doing, but you're going to one of the top academies in the kingdoms. Don't let your grades slip worrying about me, alright?"

"It's just… you're all I have, mum… I love you."

"I love you too, but I don't want you throwing away your future because of me. Don't let your silly old mother hold you back." Marble hugged her daughter warmly, and kissed her on the cheek. "Now go back to school. I'm fine here, and Ken is a huge help, even if he did freak out when you put the moves on him."

"MOM!"

"I'm sorry, honey, I couldn't help myself." Marble laughed softly, as she broke the embrace. Seeing her daughter's eyes red, Marble wiped away a tear as it fell. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine," Velvet assured, sniffling.

* * *

" _Where are you going, Kaneki dear?"_

Kaneki panted as he tried to catch his breath. He had broken into a full sprint when Velvet had snapped him out of his stupor. "You're not real, you're _dead_ … both you and Yamori." It had taken him a while to collect himself, but once he began to come to terms with the hallucinations he began to realize something.

He was hungry.

What meat he was able to eat from Tukson was enough to get him back from his starving state, but it wasn't enough to satisfy him for the month. He touched his mouth to find himself salivating.

" _Who are you going to eat?"_ Yamori asked, his smug grin clearly heard in his tone. Kaneki ignored him, wiping his mouth.

" _Looks like he doesn't want to talk to you,"_ Rize chirped. She wrapped her arms around his back and began to whisper into his ear. _"What about a child, huh? They're soft, and pose no threat to you. Unless you want to build up your appetite, in which case we can go find one of these 'Huntsmen' and test your skills."_

"Shut up…" he muttered angrily. Kaneki took in his surroundings, seeing old concrete buildings and cracked sidewalks. In his rush to get as far from the café as possible, he hadn't noticed he ran straight back to the warehouse. He knew he wasn't supposed to be back yet, but he could smell several people in the distance. "They… smell so… good…"

Rize's voice whispered into his ear. _"Just give in to it, Kaneki, it's the way of the world."_

"No! That's the way of Tokyo! This world is different…

" _What does it matter? They're just meat!_ " cackled Yamori. His laughter rang in Kaneki's ears, making him shut his eyes.

Kaneki gritted his teeth as his hunger grew. "No, they're people! Just like I am… I _was_ ," he reasoned with himself. "It's better to hurt… than to hurt others…"

" _What a load of bullshit! Hurting others is FUN!"_ roared Yamori with a laugh. His hand held his mask from falling, as he leaned forward in amusement. _"Don't you remember what I did to you? Oh, I would die for the chance to do it again. You were such a good pet!"_

"SHUT UP!" Kaneki shouted, punched the metal wall where Yamori was a moment ago. Kaneki then heard the deep laughter mocking him from a distance.

" _You can't kill me twice, Kaneki,"_ Yamori mocked as he disappeared again. Kaneki shook with both anger and hunger, now free from the two ghouls for a moment. The intoxicating smell hit him again full force, and his fingers twitched toward his mask hidden in his pocket. As much as he didn't want to be caught with it, he was well aware that a day like today would rob him of all self-control.

"I don't want to do it…" he whispered to himself, taking out the mask. "I'm… I'm not a monster…" He stared at the toothy grin in his hands, and took a deep breath. He needed to calm himself down. Slowly, he donned the mask, the cool leather bringing familiar comfort, and he felt in control once more. His exposed Kakugan adjusted to the dim light of the dawn, and he could feel a grin forming behind the zipped mouth.

"I _am_ a monster…" he said to himself. It was both disheartening to finally admit it, but it felt like a weight was lifted from him. He would never deny what he was again, but that didn't mean he would have to become what he hated. "I refuse to hurt an innocent person…" he vowed. He took out his scroll, and began to look online for a prison of some sort, or even a wanted list of known criminals. However, as he began to open the scroll, a few voices rang out from a distance.

"Hey, you! Stay where you are!" The man's voice was rough, likely an older gentleman if Kaneki had to guess. Kaneki tried to remain calm, but the scent was intoxicating. He turned slowly, sniffing deeply.

"You… smell _good_ ," Kaneki nearly moaned in pleasure.

"What the hell is this guy's deal?" asked a woman, likely the man's partner. Kaneki finally got to look at the duo and nearly laughed with glee. They wore masks, which in Kaneki's increasingly limited functioning mind, meant they were ghouls. He wouldn't have to hurt any humans after all. He straightened his back, as his black and red eye scanned them carefully.

Kaneki raised a hand, to which the male raised a gun toward him and the woman drew her sword. He placed his thumb over his index finger, and a sickening pop echoed through the night. The woman flinched, as the man seemed disgusted.

"You stay right there!" ordered the man, as he hesitantly made an approach. "You're as good as dead, you filthy human. Nobody is supposed to be here!"

" **I live here** ," Kaneki grinned underneath his mask. The masked man raised his gun to aim, but Kaneki sprang into action. Faster than his opponent could track him, Kaneki skidded to a stop behind him.

"What the—," the man managed to say, before a sickening sound of flesh tearing interrupted him. Kaneki could see him look down where the kagune emerged from his chest. He let out a weak dying sound before his body fell limply aside. The woman shrieked in terror, as she turned tail to escape Kaneki. She barely got three steps before a Kaneki's tendril wrapped around her ankle and dragged her back towards him. Kaneki dangled her in front of him, watching in amusement as she struggled. The masked woman even attempted to swipe at him with her sword, but to her dismay, it broke against his bare skin.

" **No need for that** ," Kaneki said disappointedly. The woman began to scream in terror, only for Kaneki to swing her against the metal walls of the warehouse, then down in to the ground multiple times. Before long, she was silent, and the only sound heard was dull thuds as her body was slammed down into the dirt. Satisfied, Kaneki pulled the two bodies towards him, and began to feast. The meat was still warm, as he scarfed it down greedily, savoring the taste. It only took a few moments for him to completely disembowel the woman, and began working on the man, when a realization made him stop.

"This… this doesn't taste like a ghoul…" he realized, as he had thoroughly enjoyed the tastes of both his victims. He let go of the man, despite all instincts demanding he continued eating. "These…. These were people…"

" _Oh boy-fucking-hoo,"_ Yamori said, couching in front of the half-ghoul. _"They had it coming."_

"SHUT UP!" Kaneki shouted again, gripping the sides of his head. Who was he trying to convince? He wasn't able to control a ghoul's hunger. He was a monster through and through, a forced cannibal destined to live a nightmare of somebody else's creation. He recalled when he grew to accept his ghoul half, but he didn't remember when he began to disregard his humanity. Even now, he realized, he wasn't upset that he killed these two people, but rather, that he was losing control of himself. All he wanted, after becoming a ghoul, was to be strong enough to protect those he cherished… yet here he was now, lacking the strength to control himself.

 _Clink._

Kaneki's attention drifted towards the sound of a metal breaking. He saw the tip of what looked like a rapier lying about a foot from him, and his gaze wandered towards the one responsible. It didn't take him long to see a short woman in a strange ensemble of pinks, whites, and browns standing petrified of him a fair distance away. In a shaky hand, she held the other half the rapier.

He didn't say a word, and simply looked on impassively. He vaguely toyed with the idea that he should let the woman kill him, unable to think of a good enough reason to excuse his existence… though by the looks of it, she wouldn't be able to, judging by her broken weapon. Kaneki didn't get long to think, as a familiar voice rang out from inside the warehouse.

"Did you find out what was making that racket outside?" A moment later, the well-dressed criminal walked out, holding his cane relaxed in one hand. His expression looked confused, as he noticed the short girl's state, and he briskly walked over to her. "Neo, what's wrong?"

His gaze followed hers, and he saw the familiar white-haired associate of his.

"Eye-patch? I thought I made it clear you weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow," he said annoyed. He felt a tug on his sleeve, and he looked back to Neo, who was pointing at him. "What is it? He scare you? Come on, he's just a kid, you could wipe the floor with him."

He looked back toward Kaneki, a cocky smirk on his face, when he noticed the amount of blood he was covered in. The mutilated bodies, as well as the blood dripping from Kaneki's mouth made it abundantly clear what had happened, causing his smirk to drop instantly.

"What the hell are you?"

"A monster," Kaneki replied, finally saying aloud what he had been thinking. "As for our arrangement, I trust you'll hold up your end as agreed?"

Jack gulped, as he felt the icy stare from the stranger. He nodded, not trusting his voice.

"I… I'm sorry about your henchmen…" Kaneki muttered, looking down to the corpses. He didn't bother to look up when he heard the two run off.

" _It's alright, Kaneki dear, just finish them off. There's no need to be wasteful."_

"They were more than just meat," he argued.

Yamori growled in annoyance, _"oh stop with that shit, you're not a puny human anymore."_

Kaneki gritted his teeth, but refused to snap at his torturer. He shut his eyes, willing away the illusions. Despite not wanting to listen to the two Ghouls, he knew they were right. Hesitantly, he walked over to the dead bodies.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the corpses. Closing his eyes, he tore off one of the man's arms. He resisted as best he could to not continue eating then and there and tore off the other arm.

* * *

From a distance, Torchwick watched his… associate ripping apart the bodies of his victims. While he was known for being ruthless, the scene he was witnessing was sickening. He would have never expected such brutality from such a meek teenager. He recalled the day they crossed paths… and had he known that beneath his calm demeanor lay a sociopathic murderer… he wouldn't have made any deals with him.

-Two Weeks Before-

Roman spun his cane around his finger as he casually made his way back to his hideout. He was vaguely amused referring to it as such but didn't dwell on it too much. From what Neo had said, she would be arriving the following night, and with her at his side, things were bound to go much smoother _. Especially when it comes to dealing with those damn brats at the docks…_ He thought bitterly to himself. Arriving at the front of the warehouse, he played with the idea of getting a fridge full of ice cream for his associate, but ultimately decided against it. He reached to unlock the door but found it ajar.

"What the hell?" he mumbled, "aaand there goes my good mood…"

Raising his cane protectively, he crept inside. Somebody was in here, and he would be damned if some Lookie-Lou stumbled upon his mountain of Dust. He continued walking in and heard light footsteps. Peeking around a corner, he saw the thin body of what looked to be a teenager crouched over something. Before he could raise his cane to aim at him, the boy snapped his head over to him.

"W-who are you?" asked the teen, his voice wavering a bit.

"I should be asking you the same thing, kid," Torchwick scoffed at him. His eyes narrowed at his snowy white hair, and he raised his weapon. His voice became colder. "You a Schnee?"

"What's a Schnee?"

At that Roman laughed sarcastically. When the teen continued to look confused, Roman rolled his eyes.

"Don't play stupid, kid. Everybody in the four kingdoms knows the Schnee name. You been living under a rock?"

"On the streets, actually," admitted the boy. While shadows still covered his face and most of his upper body, Roman noticed that the clothing he was wearing, while not dirty, didn't fit him.

"Oh great, _another_ street rat…" he sighed, shaking his head. "You work for her too? I swear, that woman just picks up kids down on her luck and brainwashes them to do her dirty work. Where'd she pick you up?"

"W-who are you talking about?" he asked, a bit worried.

"Who else? Cinder. The damned she-witch who strong-armed everybody into helping her," he scoffed, shaking his head. Taking a moment to compose himself, he turned back to the confused street rat. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"I don't know who you're talking about," he said carefully, leaning forward, just enough for Roman to see his face. To his surprise, the boy wore a black leather mask with a toothy mouth emblazoned on it. He couldn't make out many other details due to the poor lighting.

"What's up with that mask?" he demanded, a bit put off by it.

"I… have my reasons." His voice was stoic now, although Torchwick immediately sensed the defensiveness in it. Roman surmised he was probably disfigured or had some scars he was self-conscious about.

"Look, I don't care, just get out, alright? I have a business to run, and I can't have people wandering in like stray dogs."

"Wait, I don't have anywhere else to go!" he said suddenly reaching his hand out. Almost immediately, the teen recoiled, and stepped back. He mumbled under his breath, which Torchwick assumed he was talking to himself. While not normal, but he'd seen stranger. He would typically say 'tough luck' and kick the teen out, but his mind came back to Neo. There was no sense in going straight to work just yet, and theoretically, he could use the urchin as a form of security while he and Neo enjoyed themselves.

"Anybody else know about this place?" he demanded. The teen shook his head. "How about we make a little deal, then? I'll let you keep this dumpster fire of a warehouse to do whatever you want to do with. In return, you'll keep any and every other street rat from finding this place, and keep all my stuff safe, huh? Obviously if a kid like you can wander in without too much trouble, I'll need some better security. Don't bother asking me to pay you, you're already getting a roof over your head, got it?"

The teen seemed skeptical but didn't voice any objections. Instead, he nodded.

"Great, well, you can start by making sure you lock the goddamn door behind you, yeah? Any misstep from you, and you're gone. I'll have you arrested for breaking and entering… or is it trespassing? I could never remember the difference."

"Breaking and entering involves using any sort of force to enter a premise without authority, whereas trespassing is entering one's property without permission. The latter can happen accidently."

"What about burglary?" asked Roman, slightly impressed.

"Essentially the same as breaking and entering, with the exception that there is intent to commit a crime," he answered easily enough. Roman let out a small laugh.

"You know what, kid, you're alright. What's your name?"

"Eyepatch," he responded. Roman's grin disappeared and was replaced with a frown. He wasn't upset, but the kid was much sharper than he was giving him credit for. He shifted his cane in front of him, and he looked down to his emblem.

"I'm Jack," he replied.

-Present-

"Who would have thought…?" Roman mumbled, as he hopped into one of the remaining trucks transporting Dust. Neo climbed in behind him, uncharacteristically frowning. He was about to open his mouth to say something, when the police scanner went off.

" _There has been reported screaming near the industrial district, are there any units in the area?"_

" _Copy that, we're already heading over_."

Roman looked back to the cannibalistic boy and shuddered.

"You're on your own kid…"

* * *

Kaneki wandered around the now empty warehouse, refusing to take his mask off. He found a broken shard of window and used it to look at himself. The dried blood caked around his mouth disgusted him almost as much as his desire to lick it clean. His kakugan was no longer active, but even he could see how dead his stare was. He noticed Rize standing behind him, an amused expression adorning her face.

" _What's the matter, dear? Are you still hungry_?" she cooed.

"No…" he replied monotonously. He walked away from her, taking in the emptiness of the building. Without the shipping containers or crates the moonlight lit up the place.

" _Oh, come now, surely you can afford to take another bite, right? You do have my hunger after all._ "

"I'm. Not. You."

There was a sweet giggle from the apparition, followed by a soft embrace around his shoulders. Despite knowing she wasn't there, he could feel the breathiness of her voice.

" _Why do you want to starve yourself? Is it because of your mother? You already know what I think about the nonsense she taught you_."

" _One of these days, he'll stop pretending to be human, and become the monster he knows he is_ ," chimed in Yamori.

Kaneki ignored the two ghouls and crushed the glass in his hand. He walked over to where he had set up his bed, when he heard an airship go by. He wanted to ignore his paranoia, but the feeling eventually won out. He peered through a cracked window, and his heart sank. Just outside the property line he could see a pair of humans approaching the warehouse, guns drawn.

" _Do you smell that_?" giggled Rize.

" _Fresh meat_." Yamori's voice almost shivered with delight. Kaneki shook his head, as he looked around for an exit.

* * *

Professor Ozpin mulled over the blurry photographs of the creature. Dark rings had begun to form around his eyes. He had spent countless hours trying to figure out anything he could about this sudden appearance of the Grimm-like humanoid. He leaned back in his chair, letting out a defeated sigh. While this did pose a major concern to him, he had a school to run. It had been more than three weeks since the incident took place, but the tracks stopped cold. Ozpin had come up with many theories as to why it would show up suddenly then vanish; the leading one being that whatever it was, it was trying to instill as much fear into the public while keeping away from any wary Huntsmen. He took out his scroll and dialed the number.

A gravelly voice answered on the other side. "Yeah? What it is Oz? I sent my report last week."

"I'm aware of that, Qrow. However, I require your assistance here at Beacon."

"You're joking," Qrow replied with annoyance. "You want me to abandon my lead? Why don't you have another Huntsman do it, like Tai? He's an airship ride away."

"I plan on having him come down here as well."

"What exactly did you find?"

"What seems to be something between a human and a Grimm."

Qrow grew silent on his end, his breathing barely audible. Ozpin could picture the man's expression harden coming to terms with the situation. After a few moments, Qrow finally broke the silence. "I'll be there in three days." He hung up without another word. Ozpin allowed himself a moment to compose himself before he dialed Tai, but his scroll went off before he got the chance. It was the Vale Police Department.

"Yes?" he answered politely.

"Professor Ozpin, we've found it," the man said with a shaky voice. Ozpin nearly dropped his mug, as his eyes widened. "We've got it surrounded, but we haven't engaged yet… but it looks like it's going to leave any minute. I don't think it has notices us."

"Are you certain?" Ozpin demanded, rushing towards the elevator.

"Yes Professor, we've kept our distance like Port said, but it's not acting at all the way we were told."

"Don't lose sight of it, I'm coming along with Professor Goodwitch," he commanded. "Send me your coordinates!"

* * *

"Blake, you need to get some rest!" Yang shouted at her teammate, shoving her against the wall. "This has been eating at you for weeks and destroying yourself like this isn't going to help anybody!"

"You don't understand, Yang!" Blake snapped back, the bags under her eyes making her glare seem much more feral. "There is somebody out there targeting Faunus! Former Fang members! This isn't like last time!"

"That's just a rumor and you know it." Yang's voice was softer, but she didn't let go of her partner's shoulders. Her red eyes died down into their soft lilac, and she sighed. "Blake, I won't let anybody hurt you, none of us will! I get that you're scared, but,"

"No, you don't," Blake snapped. "I've seen what the White Fang is capable of first hand, and if what Coco said was true, they've only gotten worse!"

"IF it was true! You really think somebody is morbid enough to… to do, THAT, to somebody?"

Blake struggled to control her breathing and let out a frightened whisper. "I don't know what to believe anymore… What if he's sending me a message? To all 'traitors' of the Fang? It makes sense they haven't made another move this last month, they're waiting for us to drop our guard!"

Yang's grip loosened, and she pulled the girl into a hug. "You're right, I have no idea what you must be feeling right now, but you're not alone. We're in a school surrounded by Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, not to mention all our professors. If there is anywhere that's safe, it's here, with your friends! You don't have to take on this by yourself, and you can lean on us when you need help."

Blake's voice cracked, as she buried her face into Yang. "I'm sorry."

Yang didn't reply. Instead, she gently began to stroke Blake's hair in a comforting manner. A few minutes passed, and Blake stopped shaking. "Come on, let's get some sleep, alright? Ruby and Weiss have been worried about you, too."

Blake nodded, and wiped her eyes dry. Her panic temporarily subsided, the exhaustion began to set in. The two began to walk back towards their dorm, when Yang caught a glimpse of somebody running outside. Looking closer, she realized it was their headmaster.

 _Is that Professor Ozpin?_ she thought to herself, never having seen the stoic man be in a rush for anything. Following close behind him was another familiar figure. _Professor Goodwitch?_ Yang decided to keep this to herself, as Blake didn't seem to notice.

* * *

Kaneki soon realized he was surrounded. Every exit he had managed to sneak a peek through, he could smell several people around the corner. He looked up to the high ceiling and realized that if he had any hope of circumventing the officers outside, that would be his best chance.

Yamori let out an annoyed grunt. " _Running away? If you could beat me, these humans shouldn't a problem."_

Kaneki ignored the large ghoul, and extended his kagune, latching himself to the ceiling. Before he could pull himself up, several doors were slammed open.

"What the hell is that!?" shouted a man, seeing the red tentacles stuck to the ceiling. Kaneki knew he had to leave before they saw him, and pulled himself to the ceiling, making his way towards the skylight. "OPEN FIRE!"

Kaneki was surprised. He had heard of special bullets used by investigators to keep ghouls at bay, and so far, he was convinced that this world didn't have anything of the sort. However, as these bullets made contact, they _hurt._ Some of them burned, while others shocked him. The worst offended was the feeling oh his kagune freezing, making them shatter when he tried to move it. The pain, while not unbearable, made him realize that there were ways others could try to kill him.

" _You can easily kill them all, Kaneki dear, why hold yourself back?"_ Rize asked sweetly.

Kaneki ignored her and used his kagune to scurry away to the roof. Once there, he launched himself to another building, hoping to lose them. Looking around, he noticed another airship heading towards him, and he immediately took to the ground.

He couldn't be sure if it was looking for him or not, but he wouldn't take that chance. Seconds later, a floodlight turned on, scouring the streets that were suspiciously empty. Kaneki's eyes hardened as he saw a figure standing several meters ahead. While the man didn't appear menacing at first glance, he held an air around him that reeked of danger. He held himself with the cold and collected confidence of the CCG's Reaper, which only put Kaneki more on edge. The half-ghoul placed his hand over his masked face, as he tried to control himself.

Instinctively, Kaneki's kagune pointed towards the potential threat. The man simply raised his weapon, a cane by the looks of it, and slowly began to walk towards him.

"G-get AWAY!" Kaneki roared, his predatory organs lashing out towards the man. The first two were evaded without much effort on his part, the third deflected by the deceptively durable cane. "I don't want to hurt you!" Kaneki pleaded, jumping out of the man's melee range. "J-just leave me- AHH!"

A blast of electricity hit Kaneki in the back, followed by an unseen force hitting him like a truck into the walls of the buildings. The shock was a lot more potent than that of the bullets. He turned to his assailant, and saw a blond woman holding a riding crop in her hand as if it was some sort of wand. A purple circle appeared in front of her for a moment, then unleashed several streaks of light towards him. Kaneki jumped from the small crater he created, and tried to dodge the streaks, but they followed no predictable pattern. Several impaled him, leaving behind shards of ice.

" _Looks like you're going to die here_ ," laughed Yamori. " _Unless you stop holding back_."

"SHUT UP!" Kaneki roared, as four appendages erupted from his lower back. The woman flinched for a moment, but Kaneki was assaulted by several jabs from the man's cane. Kaneki turned slowly, still covering his face, and lashed out at the man. The four kagune surrounded his opponent, but as Kaneki tried to squeeze him, a green sphere appeared around him.

"Professor Ozpin!" shouted the woman, as she conjured more shards of ice and bolts of fire. Kaneki winced for a moment, feeling the full impact of the elements, and threw the orb at his assaulter. Kaneki's wild eye looked at the two Huntsmen, knowing that continuing the fight would decrease his chances of making it out alive. He vaguely was aware of the flesh on his back stitching itself back together and decided he would flee before he would be forced to feed again to stay alive. He raised two of his kagune, and launched them at frightening speeds, causing the woman to form another massive glyph. It seemed to have worked at first, but a third tentacle pierced through, causing Ozpin to tackle her out of the way. Using this opportunity, Kaneki fled.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Ozpin asked, helping Glynda to her feet.

Glynda, dusted herself off, and let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm fine, but that thing got away." She furrowed her brow in confusion. "I'm not sure if that was a Grimm at all, Professor Ozpin."

"Nor do I," he replied, his jaw tense. "I'm going to see if I can find any tracks. After, we'll discuss this with the other professors."

"I'll gather what information the Vale Police Department got on it."

* * *

Kaneki made a mad dash, weaving in and out of alleys as he tried to get away. He checked over his shoulder constantly, knowing that they wouldn't have let him get away so easily. Glancing back, he tripped over a knocked over trash can. He fell over, and eventually skidded to a stop. scrambling to his feet, he made his way out of the alley, and back onto the sparsely lit streets. He recognized the area, and knew he had to leave immediately. He had come back to Tukson's shop.

The police tape had long since been removed, and there was a sign on the window. He approached it, but as he got closer he saw his reflection. His hair was completely stained with blood, and there were pieces of flesh stuck to his mask. He resembled some sort of corpse brought back to life. He looked around, seeing nobody, and went into the shop. Kaneki locked the door behind him and looked around the dark bookstore. All the books had been moved, leaving the barren bookcases and empty magazine racks littering the store. Looking around, he found a small bathroom, and began washing the blood from his hair, and cleaning his mask.

" _What have we become_?" whispered a new voice.

Kaneki's eyes widened as he looked up into the mirror. Instead of his own reflection, he saw himself as he was years ago. Despite knowing that this was him, the two couldn't look more different. Young Kaneki had a round face with big expressive eyes and shiny black hair, contrasting the half ghoul Kaneki, whose eyes were devoid of hope, his white hair dull, and his face sharper from his lack of nutrition since arriving to Remnant.

" _Why did you let them change us?_ " young Kaneki asked, tears threatening to form on his face. Every emotion was visible on his expression.

"I… I didn't have a choice," he confessed. "I never wanted this… I still don't want this!"

" _You're lying_ ," child Kaneki accused. " _I can tell from the way you enjoyed killing that woman, and how easily you dismembered that man! You like what we've become! YOU LIKE KILLING!_ "

Kaneki stood there shocked for a moment. "N-no, you're wrong! I don't enjoy any of this!"

" _You're a lot more like us than you think, Kaneki dear. Just embrace it,"_ Rize smiled, appearing behind the child apparition of himself.

"I won't, I'm not like you!" he denied again, grabbing the sides of his head. "I'm human! I'm human! I'M HUMAN!"

" _No you're not!_ " Child Kaneki shouted, tears finally falling. " _You KILL people and EAT them! You're nothing but a ghoul!_ "

Kaneki fell to his knees and stared at the floor, slowly staining with his tears.. A few minutes passed, and he finally spoke, his voice no longer wavering.

"You're right."

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed the update, and special thanks to both FineChyna for betaing again, and my new friend who has been helping me get motivated to keep writing (you know who you are 3).**


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